Apparatus for making flattened expanded-metal reinforcement



E. T. REDDING. APPARATUS FOR MAKING FLATTENED EXPANDED METAL REINFORCEMENT. APPLICATION FILED SEPT, 9, I918.

1,370,361 Patented Mar. 1, 1921.

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E. T. REDD ING. APPARATUS FOR MAKING FLATTENED EXPANDED METAL REINFORCEMENT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-9| 1918.

\ Patented Mar. 1, 1921.

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WITN ESSES m4 $9 M UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

EDWARD T. REDDING, OF SWISSVALE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO CONSOLIDATED EXPANDED METAL COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING FLATTENED EXPANDED-METAL REINFORCEMENT;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 1, 1921.

Application filed September 9, 1918. Serial No. 253,149.

Iy invention in general is in the nature.

of an improvement upon the Golding method of making expanded sheet metal, described in the Golding Patent No. 527,242 of October 9, 1894, and has for its primary object to act upon and improve the Golding or similar expanded metal product, as distinguished from deployed metal which is adapted merely for use as lathing, so as to advantageously permit the employment of the new structure in certain lines of reinforcement work where tensility and a perfect bond are big factors. It may be said that the improved structure is particularly adapted for use in connection with relatively thin concrete slabs or tiles as an improved means of reinforcement designed to effect a 'material increase in the tensile strength of flexible and economical reinforcing element singularly free from distortion or irregularity in contour, and embodying thinned strands and connecting webs whose upper and lower surfaces respectively lie in an identic plane.

Inthe drawings, Figure 1 illustrates a piece of the aforesaid Golding expanded metal product;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the rolling machine for turning over the strands and webs of the expanded metal and then straightening out the piece;

ig. 3 represents a new of the new structure' Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are enlarged contrasting views in perspective of similar portions of the old product, and intermediate stage in the process of the turning over of the webs and strands thereof, and'the new structure;

1JhFig. 7his a longitudinal sectional view of e mac me in i 2 and taken a1 IinqVII-VII; the

Fig. 8 represents a view illustrating diagrammatically the longitudinal directional travel of the metal through the machine during the turning over and flattening oper: ittlOIl, the breaking up of any spiral formation of the metal piece which may be produced by the turning over and flattening operat on, the rolling operation, and the final stra ghtening out of the metal piece to obviate any tendency to bend that may be due to the rolling of the metal; and

Figs. 9, 10 and 11 represent slightly enlarged views of detail portions of the ma-.

chine.

Figs. 1 and 4 of the drawings clearly indicate the structural characteristics of the Golding 01' similar expanded metal A, wherein the bent strands 6 which constitute the boundaries of the diamond mesh, do not lie in the same horizontal plane. The expanded metal is manufactured from sheet steel and is worked cold. The sheet is laid on the table of the cutting machine with one edge thereof projecting from the edge of the table a distance equal to the width of the strands 6 and a knife bar cuts the projecting metal by a shearing action so that the strands are formed at regular intervals throughout the length of the sheet. The knives are so shaped that the metal is left uncut at a short distance from the end of the strand while the metal of the strand is forced downward and the entire strand cold-drawn to form a half-diamond. The plane of the diamond is then approximately at right angles to the plane of the uncut sheet. The knife-bar is then moved in the direction of the length of the sheet and the sheet isthen projected over the cutting edge a distance equal to the width of the strand and when the bar next descends the uncut portion of metal where the'strands of the first halfdiamond are joined now become the bottom of the loops forming the second row of halfdiamonds. The knife-bar then returns to the original position and the third row of half-diamonds is formed, the strands being everywhere parallel to the first row and joined to the strands of the second row by the continuous uncut portions or webs 7. This process is continued until the entire sheet is passed under the knife and the comipllete piece of expanded metal has been nished. j

These strands and webs hav their greatest metal dimension (or width running in a substantial vertical direction, and this vertical dimension is increased two-fold at the bridges or joint 7, resulting in a structure possessing such height and rigidity as to seriously impair the eifectiveness of its employment with relatively thin slabs or tile, as frequently portions of it would project above the neutral axis of the tile and into or through the concrete of its underface, resulting in a fracture and failure of the tile when the latter was subjected to a. normal stress.

My invention is intended to overcome these.

objections producing as I do by my improved apparatus, a structure capable of act'- ing as an eff cient reinforcement for a very thin tile, and of imparting to such structures a measure of tensile strength heretofore unattained.

In carrying out my invention I subject the Golding or other similar expanded metal product, as distinguished from deployed metal lathing, to a bending pressure sufficient in degree toturn over and straighten or flatten the vertical strands 6 and webs 7 so that throughout the piece they assume an identic horizontal plane position, the strands and webs in the new and thin structure B being designated by the reference numerals 8 and 9 respectively.

The feeding of the rigid product A between superposed rolls, as 10, 10' and 11, 11, is the medium of pressure application I prefer to employ, the product being frictionally engaged with and supported during its passage through the rolls upon a traveling reciprocating plate member 12 disposed longitudinally of the frame 13 for movement in the pass of the rolls. The latter are adapted to rotate as a unit, the rotation being communicated to the plate 12 by means of the rack 14 formed on its under face and the pinion 15 preferably mounted centrally of the lower roll 10 in mesh with the rack. The rolls 10 and 10' are geared together, as are the rolls 11 and 11', by the upper gears 16 and 17 and lower gears 16' and 17, the former being meshed with a drive pinion 18 which has a drive shaft 19. The latter is connected with a source of power adapted to im art rotary movement to the rolls, and provided with suitable reversing mechanism adapted to intermittently reverse such rotation this opposed directional rotation of the rolls being translated into reciprocatory movement of the plate member 12 toward and from the table 20 upon which the rigid product is designed to be initially positioned. The roll 11' is peripherally recessed centrally at 21 'to permit the passage of the rack 14; and

roller supports 22 are provided at spaced intervals laterallyofthe rack to provide ade quate terminal support to the plate member in its extreme positions.

Fig. 2 of the drawings illustrates the location of the plate member when in its eX- treme retracted position, and at a time when the flexible product has been produced and the member about to be advanced toward the table 20 to receive the next piece of rigid product to be acted upon. The latter is placed on the table with its forward marginal edge portion in close proximity to the pass of the front rolls and is pressed themtoward co-incident with the initial retraction of the plate member. The action of the rolls is to turn over all the strands and webs of the rigid piece in the same direction so that the webs will tend to straighten out without crimping or crushing adjacent terminal portions of the strands, or elongating thepi ece, as is clearly indicated in Fig. 6 of the drawings, the degree of flattening of the metal being determined by relative roll adjustment. It will be understood. that the product is placed on the feeding table 20 at the outset so that the longer axes of the diamond openings take right-angular positions with reference to the pass of the rolls, and that the vertical dimension of the pass e uals substantially the sum of the thickness 0 the plate member 12 and half the overall height of the rigid piece less a fractional part of the same.

-However, I find in actual practice the piece after passing through the front rolls has'a tendency to spiral, 2'. 6., it begins to roll up starting at one corner, and in order to break this up I provide any suitable means rearwardly of saidlrolls such as the metal bars 23 and 24, the former being inclined in a direction away from tht pass of the rolls and the latter being arcuate in cross-section and placed just above the bar 23 whereby to provide a curved or offset passa e 25 between them for the piece to pass t rough before it reaches the second or rear pair of rolls. These bars may be terminally associated together as shown in Figs. 9 and 10 and rigidly secured to the sides of the frame 13 by means of bolts 26. During its passage through the-rear rolls the piece, which was distorted in a lateral direction by the bars 23 and 24, is then straightened out, and in order to prevent the finished product from curling up over the rear rolls, or rolling up upon itself, commencing with the front marginal edge portion, I provide suitable means such as the two plates 27 and 28 which are spaced apart to form a straight horizontal i assage 29 for the product to pass through. he lower bar or plate 28 is located so as to just clear the upper face of the plate member 12, and has its ends 28 preferably associated with the ends 27*- of the upper plate 27. Headed bolts 30 are provided to rigidly secure the plates to the sides of the frame 13, as indicated in Fig. 11 of the drawings. After passing through the assage 29 the new product is'straight, and is then in readiness for cutting into suitable lengths or sections, such as the section of tile reinforcement illustrated in Fig. 3.

The new structure B, by the practice of this method, takes on new qualities and lends itself to very effective employment in concrete roof tiles and similar relatively thin building slabs, and I have found by \actual test that a tile so provided will with- 15 stand approximately 38 per cent. greater tension stress than a similar tile provided with the Golding metal product having in it substantially 8.5 per cent. more metal. One of its advantages resides in the fact that it may be readily located in proper position in the tile during the formation of the latter, that is, in a zone between its neutral axis and lowerv face which in the majority of instances may only provide a leeway expressed in terms of one or twosixteenths of an inch. Another advantage will be readily perceived by those skilled in the art to be present in the new structure, namely, by sacrificing a portion of the increase gained in tensile strength it is possible to effect a corresponding reduction in the number of days heretofore required to season a concrete tile prior to its release for use in building. A full purchase or hold is obtained in the concrete of the tile as the diamond openings are large and the sides and ends of the-section B are closed. It will be obvious that a number of sections may be cut from the larger piece either before or after rolling, the latter preferred. The metal of the section may be 16 gage thickness but preferably thicker and the diamond-shaped openings substantially three inches in width, distinguishing from worked deployable metal of 24 gage and less having small openings of approximately threeeighths of an inch in width, and which is only adapted for use as lathing, and not as a structural reinforcement.

The method hereindescribed is made the subject matter of my divisional application No. 279,783 filed Feb. 28, 1919.

What I claim is:

1. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a frame, a pair of rolls mounted in said frame, a reciprocating carrier disposed in the pass of said rolls, and a straightening device carried in said frame adjacent the rolls.

2. In a machine for flattening and treating metal fabric, the combination of a frame. a plurality of rolls cooperating in said frame to flatten the fabric, a fabric carrier for said rolls. means for reciprocating the carrier in the pass of the rolls,

means carried by the frame for slidably supporting the carrier, and means p0si-. tioned with reference to the rolls and said carrier for successively distorting and straightening out the flattened metal fabric.

3. In a machine for treating stretched strand Golding metallic fabric, the combination of a frame, rolls in said frame, a fabric carrier for said rolls movable in the pass of the rolls and cooperating with the latter to turn the strands and bridges, and means for straightening the fabric after its passage through the rolls.

4. In a machine for treating stretched strand metal fabric such as Golding fabric, 80 the combination of a flattening roll and a late like member between which the fabric is introduced, said member being movable with the fabric and cooperating with the roll to turn the strands and bridges of the fabric substantially into the original plane of the stock.

5. In a machine for treating stretched strand metal fabric such as Golding fabric, the combination of a flattening roll and traveling means moving across said roll in the direction of the travel of the fabric and coextensive at least with the fabric in width, the fabric being introduced between said roll and said means which coo erate to turn the strands and bridges su stantially to the original lane. of the stock.

6. In a machine or treating stretched strand metal fabric such as Golding fabric, the combination of a roll and traveling 1 means moving across said roll in the direction of the travel of the fabric and coextensive at least with the fabric in width, the fabric being introduced between said roll and said means, together with means bend- 105 ing the fabric after it leaves the roll.

7 In a machine for treating metallic fabric, the combination of 'rollin means and means operating after the fabric leaves such rolling means to remove the bending given the fabric by the rolling means and giving a reverse bend to the fabric.

8. In a machine for treating metallic fabric, the combination of two rolling means,

a means intermediate said rolling means 1 5 operating to bend the fabric reversely of its bent condition as it leaves the first rolling means, and means for straightening the fabric as it leaves the second rolling means.

9. In a machine for treating metallic fabric, the combination of compressing means between which the fabric is passed, and means causing the fabric as it leaves such means to travel in a tortuous path.

10. In a machine for flattening. metallic fabric to turn over the bridges and strands into substantially the original plane of the stock, the combination of a flattening mem-. her, and a traveling carrier moving relative to said member and operating as a compression member, the fabric being introduced between the flattening member and the traveling carrier so that the two cooperate to turn over the bridges and strands.

11. In a machine for flattening metallic fabric to turn the bridges and strands thereover into substantially the original plane of the stock, the combination of a plurality of rolls and a carrier movable through the pass of the rolls and adapted to support the fabric across its Width and cooperating with the rolls to turn over the bridges and strands.

12. In a machine for treating metallic fabric, the combination of a rotating com- 15 bridges of thefabric to a horizontal plane. 20

EDWARD T. BEDDING. 

